المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

The First Gathering, of the Night of Ashura
The Sermon of Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) to His Companions on the Night of Ashura
It is mentioned in the noble Ziyarah of the Sacred Region, addressing the Master of Martyrs (peace be upon him): You were a son to the Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), a rescuer for the Quran, a support for the nation, diligent in obedience, a keeper of the covenant and the pledge, turning away from the paths of the sinful, exerting your utmost effort, long in bowing and prostration, abstaining from the world with the abstinence of one departing from it, looking upon it with the eye of those wary of it. Your hopes were held back from it, your aspiration turned away from its adornment, your glances averted from its splendor, and your desire for the Hereafter well known. Until, when injustice stretched out its arm, and oppression unveiled its face, and error called its followers — while you dwelt in the sanctuary of your grandfather, standing apart from the oppressors, a companion of the house and the prayer niche, withdrawn from pleasures and desires — you denounced the wrong with your heart and tongue, to the extent of your capacity and ability.

Then knowledge required of you to denounce, and it became incumbent upon you to wage war against the wicked. So you set out with your children and your family, your followers and your loyal ones, and you proclaimed the truth and the clear proof, and called to God with wisdom and beautiful exhortation. You commanded the establishment of the divine limits, and obedience to the One worshipped, and you forbade abominations and tyranny — yet they confronted you with injustice and aggression (1).

It is mentioned in Bihar al-Anwar by the learned al-Majlisi, may God's mercy be upon him, concerning the events of the day of Tasu'a: Then Umar called out: O cavalry of God, mount! And rejoice in Paradise! So the people mounted, then he advanced toward them after the afternoon prayer, while al-Husayn (peace be upon him) was seated before his tent, leaning upon his sword, when he dozed, his head dropping upon his knees. His sister heard

the clamor, so she drew near to her brother and said: O my brother, do you not hear these voices drawing near? So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) raised his head and said: I just saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) in a dream, and he said to me: You are coming to us. So his sister struck her face and cried out in woe. Al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said to her: There is no woe for you, O my sister; be silent, may God have mercy on you. In the narration of al-Sayyid, he said: O my sister, I just saw my grandfather Muhammad, my father Ali, my mother Fatima, and my brother Hassan, and they were saying: O Husayn, you are coming to us soon. And in some narrations: tomorrow. He said: So Zainab (peace be upon her) struck her face and screamed. So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said to her: Gently — do not make the people gloat over us (1).

Sheikh al-Mufid, may God's mercy be upon him, said: al-Abbas ibn Ali (peace be upon him) said to him: O my brother! The people have come to you. So he rose and said: Mount, O my brother, and meet them and say to them: What is the matter with you? What has occurred to you? And ask them what has brought them. So al-Abbas went out to them with about twenty horsemen, among them Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn and Habib ibn Mazahir. al-Abbas (peace be upon him) said to them: What has occurred to you? What do you want? They said: The command of the governor has come, that we offer you either to submit to his judgment or to fight you. He said: Then do not be hasty until I return to Abu Abdullah and present to him what you have mentioned. So they halted and said: Go to him and inform him, then come back to us with what he says to you. So al-Abbas turned back, riding swiftly to al-Husayn (peace be upon him) to inform him of the news, while his companions stood addressing the people, admonishing them, and restraining them from fighting al-Husayn (peace be upon him).

So al-Abbas came to al-Husayn (peace be upon him) and informed him of what the people had said. He said: Return to them, and if you are able to postpone them until tomorrow, and ward them off from us this evening, perhaps we may pray to our Lord tonight, and supplicate to Him and seek His forgiveness — for He knows that I have always loved prayer to Him, and the recitation of His Book, and abundant supplication and seeking forgiveness.

So al-Abbas went to the people and returned from them, accompanied by a messenger from Umar ibn Sa'd saying: We have granted you a respite until tomorrow. If you surrender, we will dispatch you to Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad; but if you refuse, we will not leave you be. So he departed.

How excellent are the words of the poet when he says:

And al-Husayn (peace be upon him) gathered his companions as evening drew near. Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon them) said: So I drew near to him to hear what he was saying to them, and I was ill at that time. I heard my father say to his companions: I praise God with the finest praise, and I thank Him in ease and in hardship. O God, I praise You for having honored us with prophethood, taught us the Quran, given us understanding of the religion, and granted us hearing, sight, and hearts — so make us among the thankful.

As for what follows: I know of no companions more loyal nor better than my companions, nor of any household more righteous and dutiful than my household. So may God reward you well on my behalf. Indeed, I think tomorrow will be our day with these people. Indeed, I have given you leave: so depart, all of you, freely. There is no obligation upon you from me, nor any pledge. This night has covered you, so take it as a mount.

His brothers, his sons, his nephews, and the two sons of Abdullah ibn Ja'far said to him: Why should we do that? To remain after you? May God never show us such a thing! al-Abbas ibn Ali was the first to speak these words, and the group followed him in it, speaking the like of it.

So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said: O sons of Aqil! It is enough killing for you in Muslim ibn Aqil. Go, you, for I have given you leave. They said: Glory be to God! What would we say to the people? Would we say: We abandoned our elder, our master, and our cousins — the best of uncles — and we did not shoot an arrow alongside them, nor thrust a spear alongside them, nor strike a sword alongside them, and we know not what became of them? No, by God, we will not do that, but we will ransom you

with ourselves, our wealth, and our families, and we will fight alongside you until we arrive where you arrive. May God make life hideous after you.

Muslim ibn Awsajah rose to him and said: Shall we leave you, and with what excuse would we present ourselves to God in fulfilling your right? No, by God, not until I thrust my spear into their breasts, and strike them with my sword as long as its hilt holds in my hand. And if I had no weapon with which to fight them, I would hurl stones at them. By God, we will not leave you until God knows that we have guarded the absence of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) regarding you. By God, even if I knew that I would be killed, then revived, then burned, then revived, then scattered to the winds — and this done to me seventy times — I would not part from you until I meet my death before you. So how could I not do this, when it is but a single death, then it is the honor that has no end forever?

And Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn rose and said: By God, I would wish that I were killed, then brought back to life, then killed — that I be killed thus a thousand times — and that God thereby ward off death from your soul, and from the souls of these young men of your household.

And a group of his companions spoke words resembling one another to a single purpose. So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) rewarded them well and returned to his tent.

And al-Sayyid, may God's mercy be upon him, said: It was said to Muhammad ibn Bishr al-Hadrami at that time: Your son has been captured at the frontier of Rayy. So he said: With God I count him, and myself, as a loss. I do not wish him to be captured while I remain after him. al-Husayn (peace be upon him) heard his words and said: May God have mercy on you. You are released from your pledge to me, so go and work to free your son. He said: May the wild beasts devour me alive if I part from you! He said: Then give your son these garments and robes, that he may use them to ransom his brother. So he gave him five garments worth a thousand dinars.

He said: al-Husayn (peace be upon him) and his companions passed that night with a hum like the humming of bees — some bowing, some prostrating, some standing, some sitting. And that night, thirty-two men crossed over to them from the army of Umar ibn Sa'd (1). How excellent are the words of al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin, may God's mercy be upon him, when he says:

And Sheikh Abd al-Mun'im al-Firtusi, may God's mercy be upon him, says:

The Second Gathering, of the Night of Ashura
The Account of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him)
and the Testament of Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) to His Sister Zainab (peace be upon her)
Sheikh al-Mufid, may God's mercy be upon him, said: Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them) said: I was seated in

that night, in whose morning my father was killed, and my aunt Zainab was tending to me in my illness, when my father withdrew into a tent of his, and with him was Jawn, the freedman of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, who was working on his sword and mending it. And my father was saying:

He repeated it two or three times until I understood it and knew what he intended. So weeping choked me, and I held it back and kept my silence, for I knew that the affliction had descended. As for my aunt — when she heard what she heard, and she is a woman, and it is the nature of women to be tender and distressed — she could not contain herself, but leapt up, dragging her garment, bareheaded, until she reached him, and she said: O my bereavement! Would that death had deprived me of life! Today my mother Fatima has died, and my father Ali, and my brother Hassan! O successor of those who have passed, and refuge of those who remain! So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) looked at her and said to her: O my sister, let not Satan carry away your composure! And his eyes welled with tears, and he said: If the sandgrouse were left in peace at night, it would sleep. She said: O my woe! Will you have your soul seized by force? That is more wounding to my heart and harder upon my soul! Then she struck her face, and reached for her collar and tore it, and fell down in a faint.

So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) rose to her and poured water upon her face, and said to her: O my sister, fear God, and console yourself with the consolation of God. Know that the people of the earth die, and the people of the heavens do not remain, and that everything is perishing except the Face of God Most High, who created the creation by His power, and will resurrect the creation, and to Him they return — and He is One, alone. My father is better than me, my mother is better than me, my brother is better than me, and for me and for every Muslim there is in the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) an example. So he consoled her with this and the like, and said to her: O my sister, I have

sworn you to an oath, so fulfill my oath: do not tear a collar over me, nor scratch your face over me, nor cry woe and ruin over me when I am slain. Then he brought her and seated her beside me.

Then he went out to his companions and ordered them to bring their tents close to one another, and to insert the tent-ropes one into another, and to be between the tents so that they would face the people on a single front, with the tents behind them, to their right, and to their left, surrounding them, except for the front from which their enemy would come upon them.

And he (peace be upon him) returned to his place and stood throughout the whole of his night, praying, seeking forgiveness, supplicating, and humbling himself. And his companions stood likewise, praying, supplicating, and seeking forgiveness (1).

And may God have mercy on a certain poet when he says concerning them (peace be upon them):

And how excellent are the words of the poet Abboud al-Ahmad al-Najafi, may God Most High have mercy on him, when he says:

Sheikh al-Mufid, may God's mercy be upon him, said: al-Dahhak ibn Abdullah said: The cavalry of Ibn Sa'd passed by us, guarding us, while al-Husayn (peace be upon him) was reciting: "And let not those who disbelieve think that the respite We grant them is good for themselves. We only grant them respite so that they may increase in sin, and for them is a humiliating punishment. God would not leave the believers in the state in which you are until He distinguishes the wicked from the good" (2). A man from that cavalry, called Abdullah ibn Sumayr, heard it — and he was a jester, brave, a champion, a noble horseman, a daring man — so he said: We, by the Lord of the Ka'ba, are the good ones; we have been distinguished from you. So Burayr ibn al-Khudayr said to him: O sinner! Does God make you among the good ones?! He said to him: Who are you, woe to you? He said: I am Burayr ibn al-Khudayr. So they reviled one another (3).

And he said in al-Manaqib: When the time of pre-dawn came, al-Husayn dozed, his head dropping for a moment, then awoke and said: Do you know what I just saw in my sleep? They said: And what did you see, O son of the Messenger of God? He said: I saw as though dogs had set upon me to tear at me, and among them was a spotted dog which I saw was the fiercest against me. I think that the one who will undertake my killing is a leprous man from among these people. Then after that I saw my grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), with a group of his companions, and he was saying to me: O my son, you are a martyr of the family of Muhammad, and the people of the heavens and the inhabitants of the highest plateau rejoice at you. So let your breaking of the fast be with me tonight — hasten and do not delay, for here is an angel that has descended from heaven to take your blood in a green flask. This is what I saw, and the matter has drawn near, and the departure from this world has approached — no doubt of it (4).

And how excellent are the words of Sheikh Abd al-Mun'im al-Firtusi, may God's mercy be upon him, when he says concerning that:

The Third Gathering, of the Night of Ashura
On the Stances of the Supporters on the Night of Ashura
It is mentioned in al-Dam'a al-Sakiba: When al-Husayn (peace be upon him) encamped at Karbala, the closest of his companions to him and the most constant in attending him was Hilal ibn Nafi', especially in the places where treachery was feared, for he was resolute and skilled in strategy. One night, al-Husayn (peace be upon him) went out beyond the tents until he had gone far. So Hilal girded on his sword and hastened his pace until he caught up with him, and he found him examining the mountain passes, the slopes, and the hills overlooking the camp. Then al-Husayn turned behind him and saw me, and said (peace be upon him): Who is the man? Hilal? I said: Yes, may God make me your ransom. Your going out at night toward the camp of this tyrant alarmed me. So he said: O Hilal, I went out to inspect these hollows, fearing they might be an ambush for the cavalry to assault our encampment on the day when you charge and they charge.

Then he returned, holding my left hand and saying: It is, it is — by God, a promise in which there is no breach. Then he said: O Hilal, will you not slip away between these two mountains from this very moment, and save yourself? So he fell at his feet and said: Then may Hilal's mother be bereaved of him! My master, my sword is worth a thousand, and my horse the same. By the One who graced me with you, I will not part from you until they grow weary of my cutting and my charging.

Then he left me and entered his sister's tent, so I stood beside it hoping he would come out of it quickly. She received him and laid out for him a cushion to lean upon, and he sat conversing with her in secret. It was not long before she was choked by her weeping and said: O my brother! Shall I witness your slaughter and be afflicted with the care of these terrified women, while the people — as you know — bear their ancient malice? That is a grievous matter. It pains me to see the slaughter of these chosen youths and the moons of the sons of Hashim. Then she said: My brother, have you sounded out the intentions of your companions? For I fear they may hand you over at the moment of the assault and the clash of spears.

So he (peace be upon him) wept and said: By God, I have rebuked them and tested them, and there is none among them but the bold and the steadfast, who delight in death before me as a child delights in its mother's milk.

When Hilal heard that, he wept out of tenderness, and turned back, making his way past the tent of Habib ibn Mazahir. He found him seated with a drawn sword in his hand. He greeted him and sat at the door of the tent, then said to him: What brought you out, O Hilal? So I recounted to him what had happened. He said: Yes, by God, were it not for awaiting his command, I would have struck at them and dealt with them this very night with my sword.

Then Hilal said: O Habib! I parted from al-Husayn (peace be upon him) while he was with his sister, and she in a state of dread and terror, and I think the women have awakened and shared with her in grief and sighing. Would you gather your companions and face them with words that calm their hearts and dispel their fear? For I have witnessed from her that for which I have no rest while it remains. So he said to him: At your command.

So Habib went out to one side, with Hilal at his side, and called upon his companions, who looked out from their tents. When they had gathered, he said to the sons of Hashim: Return to your tents — may your eyes not be kept from sleep. Then he addressed his companions and said: O people of zeal and lions of the fray! Here is Hilal who has just told me such and such, and he has left the sister of your master and the remnant of his household weeping and lamenting. Tell me what you are about. So they drew their swords and cast off their turbans and said: O Habib! By God who has graced us with this stance, if the people advance, we will surely reap their heads, and we will surely join them

to their elders, abased and humbled, and we will surely keep the testament of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) regarding his sons and daughters.

So he said: Come with me. And he set off, striking the ground, while they ran behind him, until he stood among the tent-ropes and called out: O our people! O our masters! O company of the freeborn women of the Messenger of God! These are the swords of your young men, who have sworn not to sheathe them save in the necks of those who seek evil against you, and these are the spears of your servants, who have vowed not to plant them save in the breasts of those who would scatter your assembly.

So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said: Come out to them, O family of God. So they came out, calling, and saying: Protect — O you pure ones! — the Fatimid women. What excuse will you have when we meet our grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), and complain to him of what has befallen us, and he says: Were not Habib and the companions of Habib present, hearing and seeing? By God, beside whom there is no god, they cried out a cry from which the earth surged, and their horses gathered for it, and it had a wheeling and a turmoil and a neighing, until it was as though each one was calling its companion and its rider (1).

And in some of the books, on the authority of the pride of the veiled women, Zainab (peace be upon her), she said: When it was the night of Ashura of Muharram, I went out from my tent to look in upon my brother al-Husayn (peace be upon him) and his supporters, for a tent had been set apart for him. I found him seated alone, conversing in secret with his Lord and reciting the Quran. I said within myself: On a night such as this, is my brother left alone? By God, I will go to my brothers and my cousins and reproach them for this. So I came to the tent of al-Abbas and heard from within it a murmuring and a buzzing. I stood behind it and looked into it, and I found my cousins, my brothers, and the sons of my brothers gathered in a circle, with al-Abbas ibn Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) among them, kneeling upon his knees like a lion over its prey. He delivered to them a sermon the like of which I had heard only from al-Husayn (peace be upon him), comprising praise and laudation of God and blessings and peace upon the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). Then at the end of his sermon he said: O my brothers, sons of my brothers, and my cousins! When morning comes, what will you say? They said: The matter returns to you, and we do not

transgress your word. So al-Abbas said: These — I mean the companions — are a people who are strangers, and the heavy burden is borne only by its own people. So when morning comes, the first to go forth to battle shall be you. We will advance before them to death, lest the people say: They put their companions forward, and when they were killed, they grappled with death by their swords hour after hour.

So the sons of Hashim rose, and drew their swords in the face of my brother al-Abbas, and said: We are upon what you are upon.

Zainab (peace be upon her) said: When I saw the multitude of their gathering, the firmness of their resolve, and the showing forth of their nobility, my heart was calmed and I rejoiced — but weeping choked me. I wished to return to my brother al-Husayn (peace be upon him) and inform him of this, when I heard from the tent of Habib ibn Mazahir a murmuring and a buzzing. So I went to it and stood behind it, and looked into it, and I found the companions gathered in a circle like the sons of Hashim, with Habib ibn Mazahir among them, saying: O my companions! Why have you come to this place? Make your words clear, may God have mercy on you. They said: We came to support the stranger one, the son of Fatima. He said to them: Why did you divorce your wives? They said: For that very reason.

Habib said: So when morning comes, what will you say? They said: The judgment is your judgment, and we will not transgress any word of yours.

He said: When morning comes, the first to go forth to battle shall be you. We will advance before them to battle, and we will not see a Hashimite drenched in his blood while there is a vein in us that still beats — lest the people say: They put their masters forward to battle, and were stingy with themselves toward them. So they brandished their swords in his face and said: We are upon what you are upon.

Zainab (peace be upon her) said: So I rejoiced at their steadfastness — but weeping choked me. I turned away from them, weeping, and there was my brother al-Husayn who met me. So my soul was calmed and I smiled in his face. He (peace be upon him) said: My sister! I said: At your service, O my brother! He (peace be upon him) said: O my sister, since we set out from

Medina I have not seen you smiling. Tell me, what is the reason for your smile? So I said to him: O my brother, I saw the deeds of the sons of Hashim and the companions, such and such. So he said to me: O my sister, know that these are my companions from the world of the atoms, and with them my grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), promised me. Would you like to look upon the firmness of their feet? I said: Yes. So he (peace be upon him) said: Go behind the tent.

Zainab (peace be upon her) said: So I stood behind the tent, and my brother al-Husayn (peace be upon him) called out: Where are my brothers and my cousins? So the sons of Hashim rose, and al-Abbas raced forward among them and said: At your service, at your service — what do you say? So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said: I wish to renew a covenant with you. So the sons of al-Husayn came, and the sons of Hassan, and the sons of Ali, and the sons of Ja'far, and the sons of Aqil. He bade them sit, and they sat.

Then he called out: Where is Habib ibn Mazahir? Where is Zuhayr? Where is Hilal? Where are the companions? So they came, and Habib ibn Mazahir raced forward among them and said: At your service, O Abu Abdullah. So they came to him with their swords in their hands. He bade them sit, and they sat. Then he delivered to them an eloquent sermon, and then said: O my companions! Know that these people have no aim except killing me and killing those who are with me, and I fear for you of being killed. So you are released from your pledge to me, and whoever among you wishes to depart, let him depart in the blackness of this night.

At that, the sons of Hashim rose and spoke what they spoke, and the companions rose and began to speak the like of their words. So when al-Husayn (peace be upon him) saw the goodness of their valor and the firmness of their feet, he (peace be upon him) said: If you are so, then raise your heads and look upon your dwellings in Paradise.

So the veil was lifted for them, and they saw their dwellings, their houris, and their palaces within it, and the wide-eyed houris calling out: Make haste, make haste, for we long for you! So they rose, all of them, and drew their swords and said: O Abu Abdullah! Give us leave to charge upon the people and fight them until God does with us and with them what He wills. So he (peace be upon him) said: Sit, may God have mercy on you and reward you well. Then he said: Indeed, whoever has

a woman in his charge, let him take her away to the Banu Asad.

So Ali ibn Mazahir rose and said: And why, O my master? He (peace be upon him) said: Indeed, my women will be taken captive after I am killed, and I fear for your women of captivity. So Ali ibn Mazahir went to his tent, and his wife rose in deference to him, received him, and smiled in his face. He said to her: Leave me and your smiling. She said: O son of Mazahir! I heard the stranger one, the son of Fatima (peace be upon her), deliver a sermon among you, and at the end of it I heard a murmuring and a buzzing, but I did not know what he was saying. He said: O you, indeed al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said to us: Indeed, whoever has a woman in his charge, let him take her to her cousins, for tomorrow I will be killed, and my women will be taken captive. She said: And what will you do? He said: Rise, that I may join you to your cousins, the Banu Asad. So she rose and struck her head against the tent-pole and said: By God, you have not done me justice, O son of Mazahir! Would it please you that the daughters of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) be taken captive while I am safe from captivity?! Would it please you that Zainab's veil be stripped from her head while I shelter behind my veil?! Would it please you that the earrings be taken from the daughters of al-Zahra while I adorn myself with my earring?! Would it please you that your face be made bright before the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) while my face is made black before Fatima al-Zahra?! By God, you men console the men, and we will console the women.

So Ali ibn Mazahir returned to al-Husayn (peace be upon him) weeping. al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said to him: What makes you weep? He said: My master, the Asadi woman refuses all but to console you. So al-Husayn (peace be upon him) wept and said: May you be rewarded well on our behalf (1).

al-Sayyid Ibn Tawus, may God's mercy be upon him, said in the book al-Luhuf: When the morning came, al-Husayn (peace be upon him) ordered his pavilion, and it was pitched, and he ordered a large bowl in which there was much musk, and lime was placed in it. Then he entered to anoint himself. It is narrated that Burayr ibn Khudayr al-Hamdani and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Rabbihi al-Ansari stood at the door of the pavilion to anoint themselves after him, and Burayr began to jest with Abd al-Rahman.

So Abd al-Rahman said to him: O Burayr! Do you laugh? This is no hour for frivolity. So Burayr said: My people know that I have not loved frivolity, neither in old age nor in youth. I only do this out of joy at what we are coming to. For by God, it is but that we meet these people with our swords, grapple with them for an hour, then embrace the wide-eyed houris (1). And how excellent are the words of al-Sayyid Madyan al-Musawi, may God reward him well, when he says: